Advancing Neighborhood Sustainability

Learn more about the Pike Pine Pedestrian Streets Pilot

The Capitol Hill EcoDistrict has been leading a community engagement and planning process – in partnership with other community groups and City departments – about piloting pedestrian-only streets in Pike Pine since the spring. Based on feedback from local businesses, residents, and City departments, and looking at examples in other cities, we think this idea has potential.

In collaboration with Capitol Hill Housing, SDOT, Office of Economic Development, and Seattle Police Department, we will be testing out a series of pilot street closures in the Pike Pine area of Capitol Hill this August. See the latest update and details on the project here.

The sustained nightlife explosion in that neighborhood has created a vibrant, public scene, but has also generated mobility, safety, and civility concerns. Other neighborhoods and cities have had success with the strategy of limiting vehicle access at certain times to make more space for people on foot and improve the feel of the street. The aim of this pilot is to test out and fine tune this approach to address the challenges our neighborhood is facing.

What do we want to achieve?

The pilot street closure project is intended to release the pressure that is built up on the limited sidewalk space. These temporarily open streets will allow for increased pedestrian mobility, improved police monitoring, and positive street activation through community-led programming.

We want streets where:

Everyone feels safe and welcome

We celebrate the LGBTQ and artistic culture and history of the neighborhood

The street is a platform for building community

There are no gates, no fences, no drinking in the street

Garage, delivery, and emergency vehicle access is maintained

Following up

As a pilot, the Pike Pine Pedestrian Streets will allow us to test out and experiment with temporary interventions that can then inform future nightlife management strategies. A key component of the pilot is *data collection as well as a community debrief and feedback process from the street experience. If the pilots go well, they could be recurring (monthly or weekly) in 2016.

*To better understand the dynamics and scale of this unique street environment, we will be conducting a series of pedestrian counts and surveys during weekend nights in July and August. With eight nights targeted for study, we need help. Interested in volunteering?Learn more here or contact Alex at abrennan(at)capitolhillhousing.org with questions.